Jody – In my home church, the yearly missions conferences have always been a highlight in my life. Meeting people from other cultures and hearing the stories of other missionaries have fascinated me through out my whole life, and they still do. It was through a request in a prayer letter of a missionary who had visited my church 20 years earlier, that I was prompted to ask more information a the possible position. In response I received an application form and 9 months later I found myself as a secretary for the doctoral program at the Evangelical Theological Faculty in Belgium!

Marc – God first led me to serve in missions during a church service, when I was 10 years old - don’t ask me how, but I suddenly was overwhelmed by the conviction that God called me into his service. My parents had the habit of taking me to special missions conferences throughout the Netherlands. I always felled compelled to respond to the “call”. At some point, at the age of 16 or 17, I told God that I would love to work full time in his service, but that I still had quite a few theological and pastoral questions to be answered. So he put into the heart of my Grandma to pray and sent four different people on my path to instruct me to go and have a look that the Evangelical Theological Faculty in Belgium.

In June 1998, we moved to the beautiful and historical city of Tours. Our goal: planting a new church in the northern part of Tours, above the Loire River. This we did with a French couple. In August that year we started our first church services… in a living room with a dozen people. Until August 2001, the church group was never stable. People came from all over and more went to just as many places! The core group stabilized at 5 people, including us and a wild kitten. We were stripped “naked” in some way, but it was then that God started building up a dynamic and loving church, drawing many and blessing people literally from all over the world!

Over the years we have witnessed God being faithful and generous, even in the midst of challenges and needs. There is nothing or no one in the church that we haven’t asked God for: musicians, children, evangelists, meeting places, finances, salvation, baptisms, disciples, etc., and God has certainly provided!

In October 2002, thanks to ECMI, we were able to rent our first church premises on the northern bank of the Loire river. The place soon became too little and in November 2004 we moved to our present building on the opposite side of the street. We went from a one room (225 sq ft) to a two room building (450 sq ft)! And now we are in the middle of completely renovating our new rental place (2000 sq ft)! We got the keys on the first day of August. That night, basically the whole church was present to get a first impression and to dedicate the new premises to God.

For years we have been praying for a location in the heart of Tours North at one of the main roads. Miraculously, after looking at many places and about giving up, one of the church members felt compelled to visit one more realtor. The manager overheard the conversation between the agent and David, and thought: “Isn’t that the church of Philippe and Mélanie? But it’s a good church!” Thanks to Philippe’s testimony, she helped us to get the place. It’s right in the heart of Tours North and very near one of the two main intersections! To top it off: it has its own parking lot (something that is very much desired and often required)!

More important than a building is people. One of the great joys of last year (2007) was Mélanie coming to faith. It has been a few years now that we have been praying for her. It was wonderful to hear her pray on her wedding day, which is also an answer to prayer! Another joy was the baptism of three students last June (2007).

Thank you for being partners with us in the ministry and work of Christ in France!

Contact:

45 rue de Beaulieu
37100 TOURS
France

marc.vaneijden@ecmi.org